Tuesday, July 29, 2014

Centre for Counselling and Training (C4CT)
A professional Counselling and Training Centre for students, adults and families run by a husband - wife team of professionally qualified
Counsellors-cum-Trainers. The Centre has counselled and trained many students and adults; and has assisted in empowering many individuals and families to transform their lives.
Counselling and Empowerment Services (CES) for individuals and families are provided in-person and on-line through phone and Skype. Communication Improvement Training (CIT) and Personality Development Training (PDT) are offered one-to-one and in groups, both in-person and on-line through phone and Skype.
Counselling and/or training can be extended separately for girls and women by female Counsellor-cum-Trainer; and for boys / men, by male Counsellor-cum-Trainer.
The qualifications of both Counsellors-cum-Trainers are as follows:
- M.Sc. (Counselling & Psychotherapy) - 2 years study & practicals
- Post Graduate Diploma in English Language Teaching - 1 year study & practicals
- Certificate and Diploma in Teaching of English to Students of Other Languages (TESOL) (160 hours) from American TESOL Institute (ATI)
- Advanced Diploma in TESOL - Young Learner’s Program (80 hours) and Business English Teacher Training (80 hours) from ATI
- Certificate, Diploma and Advanced Diploma in Professional Development in Training (240 hours) from ATI
In addition to the above common qualifications, the female trainer is specially trained in English Language Communication (126 hours - 3 modules of Upper-Intermediate Courses - Impact and Evolution Courses covering Speaking, Listening, Writing, Grammar & Vocabulary and Participation) from British Council. In addition she is trained in Hindi Language Communication and holds a Diploma. Tamil being the mother tongue, both are comfortable in extending Tamil Language Training. English is the medium of instruction and first language of study throughout school and college for both.
Testimonials of a few students who were trained in language communication skills and personality development skills by Hemalatha (Hema) GopalaKrishnan and GopalaKrishnan (Kris) Devanathan:
1. Numaan Muhammad Khan, Grade Seven student, International Indian Public School , Riyadh, Saudi Arabia - English language communication - Online Skype classes (June - July 2014).
“I am the section leader for the seventh grade. I have improved my English communication and writing skills compared to the skills before I started English language classes; on seeing my first time paragraph and my recent paragraph, I am able to see a big change. I have learnt plenty of words; I make better sentences as compared to earlier times. But I still need to improve on use of prepositions.”
2. Pramod Javale, Drug Safety Specialist, Gilead Sciences, Cambridge,UK. - English language communication - Jan - Apr 2014.
"I grabbed an excellent opportunity to learn English from Mrs. Hemalatha and Mr. Kris Dev, a pair of professionally trained trainers. They made me extremely comfortable while teaching the various topics covered during my 3 months English course. They helped me build confidence in myself about using appropriate tenses, listening skills, using proper phonetics while speaking. Also they guided me on how to make conversation more interesting and lively. It was not just the prefixed sessions of training but customised classes to meet my changing needs. The training was very practical and useful in my personal and professional life."
3. Yunok & Kim Minjune, Korean mother and son – English language communication - 30 Oct, 2012:
“I'm a Korean student. I have come to Chennai to study English. I came to know Hemalatha Teacher through my mom who is also learning English from same Teacher. She is a very good teacher. Her English is very good. Her accent is excellent. She taught me English in a very simple and easy method. She taught me from the basic alphabets, grammar and vocabulary. She has taught me to read, write and speak in simple and effective language. I recommend Hemalatha Teacher to any foreigner who wants to learn English or Hindi or Tamil. "
4. Ravikiran, Senior Engineer, Wheels India Ltd, Chennai – English Language Communication, Presentation Skills and Personality Development - 14 Oct, 2012:
“I am a native of Trichy and did B.E - Mechanical Engineering from M. Kumarasamy college of Engineering from Karur. I wanted to improve my English speaking ability and Personality Development skills too. Before attending classes here, I was struggling to speak very precisely and clearly. I faced this problem especially when I was interacting with my higher authorities. I was even struggling to move with people in Chennai. I have realized the importance of personality development only, when I came to Chennai. After getting trained here for the last 2 months with Madam, I feel more confident in communicating with people especially I am able to maintain my intonation level when speaking to executives in my office. I am completely refined now in terms of character and language after getting trained here. I recommend this program to anyone who wants to improve their communication skills and personality development."
5. Nishanth Panchalingam, Sri Lankan citizen living and working as Software Engineer in Chennai - English language - 30 Nov 2013 (nish.lingam@yahoo.com):
“I have done my B.Tech degree in Computer Engineering. I am working as Team Leader in an IT Company. I studied in Tamil medium up to 10th standard. I was not good in English. I had attended many classes to improve my English skill but I hadn’t picked up well. I had been searching for an English class to improve my communication skills. At last, I located Mrs. Hemalatha Madam and Mr. Gopalakrishnan Sir through my sister, who is a M.Tech and a Maths Teacher. She learnt English speaking through them. I have been attending their communication and personality development classes for the last ten months. Before attending this class I wasn’t able to write even two sentences in English without grammar mistakes, but now-a-days, I am able to write short essays, prepare project documentations and send mail to clients without mistakes. The methods of teaching are totally different from other institutions and classes. They guide us and train us to practice on our own and repeat until we get it correctly. It is one-to-one training session and is effective because each student is at a different level of proficiency. So it helps everyone to understand easily and clearly. I have never seen a class like this till now. I would strongly recommend anyone to utilise this opportunity extended by Mrs. Hemalatha and Mr. Gopalakrishnan in teaching and training, to improve our skills in a proper way; otherwise I am sure that we are going to be the loser. I can say with confidence that I have been improving my skills only because of my language teachers.”
6. Jasintha Panchalingam, M.Tech., Sri Lankan citizen, Mathematics Teacher, Saraswathi Venkatraman Matriculation Higher Secondary School, Thiruvanmiyur, Chennai – 600041 - English language - Nov 2013.
“In 2010, I completed my post graduation in SRM University. Then I joined as a teacher in the same school where I studied. I was having difficulty to freely communicate in English with my students. So I felt the need to enhance my proficiency in language. I started looking for a good English teacher under whose guidance, I can improve my communication skill. I located Mrs. Hemalatha through 'Adyar Times'. I learnt pronunciation and grammar in the class. I gained confidence to write and communicate a lot. After two months of class, I felt that I've gained enough proficiency and hence I stopped the class. I was in regular touch with my teacher then. After three years, my brother also took class under her as he had seen a good improvement in my communication. He too wanted to improve his English. After going to the class he told me that I have failed to utilize the service of a good teacher in the last three years. He didn’t want me to miss anymore opportunity. He forced me to rejoin the class as my English needed further enhancement. Now I am so happy that I rejoined and I have improved the language skill. I take this opportunity to thank Mrs. Hemalatha and Mr. Gopalakrishnan for helping me to improve my language skill. I would strongly recommend the class to anyone.”
7. Kalaiselvan, Senior Service Manager, AGD Technologies, Chennai – Communication and Personality Development - 29 Aug, 2012:
“The training was excellent, interactive and able to relate to real life work situations .The trainer was energetic, professional, knowledgeable, experienced and very confidently presented the Topic. I certainly learnt a lot from him and would like to continue some more sessions with him to gain more. I strongly recommend this program to the future managers."
8. INaWord Centre for Languages (French, German, Spanish, Japanese, Chinese, English), Adyar, Chennai – 600020, India. contactus@inawordlanguages.com) 2 Nov 2012:
“This is to certify that Mrs. Hemalatha Gopalakrishnan worked as an English Language Trainer in our Institute for over three years from 2009 to 2012. During this period she has trained students, professionals and foreigners. She handled summer camps for three consecutive years. Her training method was excellent. She could reach out easily to the students and train them to improve their skills in English communication including grammar, vocabulary, reading and writing. She was prompt, regular and professional in handling the classes. We have no hesitation in recommending her for English language Training. She will be an asset to any organization. We wish her all the best in her future endeavors. Sd/- Zenobia Irani, Director.”
9. Evaluation of English Practice Teaching Sessions at Saraswathy Venkatraman Matriculation Higher Secondary School, Thiruvanmiyur, Chennai – 600041, India by the English teacher 26 Nov 2013:
Obtained “Excellent” rating in lesson content, time management, interaction with students, confidence, use of teaching aids and general remarks; and “Good” rating for class control and handling problems.
10. Eric Steinschneider, Ph.D. Candidate, Dept. for the Study of Religion, Centre for South Asian Studies, University of Toronto, Canada - Tamil language - June 2013:
“I had the opportunity to study Tamil with Mr. & Mrs. Gopalakrishnan for about six months while staying in Chennai for an extended research trip. Mr. and Mrs. Gopalakrishnan are very talented language teachers. Throughout my time with them they worked hard to help me improve my grasp of Tamil grammar, expand my vocabulary and build my conversational abilities. They consistently tailored my lessons to address my specific learning needs and were able to answer any questions that I had about the target language. My Tamil became substantially better while studying under them. In addition Mr. and Mrs. Gopalakrishnan are very friendly people, and their classes have a warm, welcome feel to them which puts the student at ease and enhances the learning experience. I would highly recommend that anyone who wants to learn Tamil consider taking language classes with them”.
11. Deirdre Dlugoleski, Fulbright-Nehru English Teaching Assistant - Tamil language - Dec 2013:
"I write to express my great satisfaction with the Tamil lessons offered by Hemalatha & Gopalakrishnan. We covered common phrases, idiomatic expressions, asking and answering questions, giving directions, and multiple verb forms, but with an emphasis on using them in colloquial speech rather than memorizing grammatical rules... They were very flexible in responding to our needs and questions, but also very good at anticipating what kinds of things we would need to be able to say during a typical day...."
12. Karina Kainth, Fulbright-Nehru English Teaching Assistant - Tamil language - Dec 2013:
“Mr. And Mrs. Devanathan were extremely helpful in my colloquial Tamil language acquisition. They were very flexible and responsive to my needs and I was able to learn many useful phrases that will help me communicate better with locals in Chennai. Their teaching was both methodical and lively, and I would certainly recommend them to others, especially those who may not have a background in Tamil.”
13. Maya Sundarajan, Regional Officer, USIEF, Chennai:
“I am delighted to write this testimonial for Hemalatha (Hema) Gopalakrishnan and Gopalakrishnan (Kris) Devanathan, Counsellors & Communications Skills Trainers. I interacted with Hema and Kris to organize spoken Tamil classes for three young American Graduates who are in India on a Fulbright-Nehru fellowship to teach English at Indian schools. The American scholars were highly appreciative of the flexible but structured approach that Hema and Kris adopted to teach the language. Their ability to inter-relate Tamil and English grammar proved to be an important asset in teaching spoken Tamil and enhance the learning experience for the Americans. We hope to continue our association with Hema and Kris for future Fulbright-Nehru scholars as well.”
14. Lucy Vivar, an American professional and expatriate in Chennai - Tamil language - Oct 2013:
“Hemalatha is a wonderful teacher with the enduring qualities that mark a true instructor – patience, technique and grace. She is very methodical, ensuring that each lesson leads seamlessly to the next and delivers instruction with patience and a smile. Gopalakrishnan, her husband is also an instructor as well as a global professional and my Tamil lessons are enriched with an international flavor and just the right context. I am not the best student but the pair of them instill knowledge in the most graceful and friendly manner. I gained not only a language skill but great friends in the bargain!”
15. Tsuyoshi Takahashi, General Manager, Nissan Motors, India - Hindi Language - Oct, 2013:
“Hema and Kris are giving me really exciting experience, which is thorough and careful attention to my level of understanding at each step of each lesson, easy to understand explain of grammar and kind and friendly treatment for me. Every 60 minutes of the lesson of Hindi is exciting and precious time of me now. So, I strongly recommend them as Hindi Language tutors. Thank you very much Hema and Kris!!! Yoshi"
16. Mathu, Manager, State Bank of India Life Insurance - Hindi language - 29 Aug, 2012:
“I attended Spoken Hindi classes. As I had very little knowledge of Hindi, Madam started with basic alphabets --> words --> grammar and then sentence formation. Then, She took day-to-day situations which we encounter and taught me to converse in Hindi. An elaborate reference material was also given which had words starting each alphabet and basic sentences and numbers. She also encouraged me to normal conversations which we will have daily to note down and will translate them during the class. Unfortunately I have to move out of the city, otherwise I would have become proficient speaker."